The
condition of KV7 is poor, immense damage having been
wrought by the seven or more distinct 'flooding events' to which the
tomb has been subjected over the centuries and by moisture-induced
swelling of the underlying shale. The site Ramesses II chose for his
tomb was not a good one.Although the tomb reverts to the old bent-axis
plan, perhaps to avoid an intrusive bed od shale encountered in its
excavation, the structure is not atavistic in design, as can be seen
from new elements such as the decreased slope of its passages, the form
of its first pillared hall (F) with the added room (G) to the side, the
radically new design of the burial chamber (K). The reason for turning
the burial chamber sideways - and at an angle - is unknown, though the
addition of the fourth set of pillars and the large size of this chamber
allowed a new emphasis to be placed on the crypt, which was new
positioned in the centre of the room instead of at its end. The KV7 is
perhaps the largest in the valley, the whole tomb covering more than
c.820 m2 and the burial chamber alone
some c.181 m2.

A - entrance and stair-ramp (solar disc flanked by Isis and Nephtys and
images of Maat)
B - 1st corridor(scenes from the Litany of Ra)
C - 2nd stairs with ramp(scenes from the Litany of Ra)
D - 2nd corridor(scenes from Amduat)
E - shaft
(scenes of king before various deities)
F - 4-pillared hall(Osiris shrine and scenes from the Book of
Gates)
G - 4-pillared side hall with side chamber
H - 3rd corridor('opening of the mouse' ceremony)
I - 4th corridor('opening of the mouse' ceremony)
J - antechamber(scenes from the Book of the Dead)
K - burial chamber (scenes from
the Book of Gates, the Amduat and the Book of the Divine Cow)
L - side chambers (images of
king with Isis and Nephtys and scenes from the Amduat)
M - side pillared halls (scenes
from the Book of Gates, the Amduat and the Book of the Divine Cow)

The
mummy of Ramesses II was discovered
in the DB320
cachein Deir el-Bahari,
contained within a closely contemporary anthropoid wooden coffin, in
opinion more scholars, prepared originally for Ramesses I. The body
itself, superficially intact when found, was unwrapped by
Gaston Maspero at Bulaq on 3 June 1886. Beneath the outer bandages
was found a hieratic docket recording its rewrapping and reburial in the
tomb of Seti I (KV17) - before its removal to
the Inhapy cliff tomb - and a shroud decorated within an image of the
goddess Nut. In September 1975 the king's mummy left Cairo for
Paris, were it was to be conserved and studied for eight month before
being returned to Egypt. This examination hinted at the opulence of the
original burial: linen fragments were discovered within the body, woven
in blue and metallic gold. It also provided a possible explanation for
the family's devotion to the previously reviled god Seth: Ramesses II,
at least, may have been red-haired - as, traditionally, was the god
himself. A microscopic examination of sand particles associated with the
body suggested that pharaoh was embalmed in the north of Egypt, at some
distance from the Nile since no aquatic-plant pollen was found.